


Together We Breathe

by YohKoBennington



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Angst, College AU, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Mentions of male lactation, Mpreg, Romance, Schmoop, mpreg!Jensen, semi-graphic labor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 15:03:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3330332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YohKoBennington/pseuds/YohKoBennington
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen and Jared's college world is turn upside down with an unplanned pregnancy. But no matter the obstacles  and the big changes they have to make, they pull through everything together to give their baby a loving welcome to their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together We Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SPN Reverse Big Bang 2014. My second and last for this round.  
> Thank you to my awesome artist bflyw for all these gorgeous art. It was a pleasure to work with you! ♥  
> Her art post is [RIGHT HERE](http://bflyw.livejournal.com/660477.html), go give her some love :D  
> To my beta ferrous_wheeler, for beating this story into shape with your extraordinary beta skills and great suggestions ♥

 

****

 

 

**~*~**

 

 

 

There's a couple with their baby across the street. The mother is buckling the baby into the car seat while she makes funny faces and talks to him. The father finishes loading the trunk and then walks back to his wife to give her a short kiss and pass a toy to the baby inside. They climb into the car and drive off soon after.

They seemed very happy. Jensen wonders if there was a moment when they weren't. If when they found out about the pregnancy they were scared? If they have doubts about being responsible, of taking care of another human that depends solely on them? If the mom learned how to take care of the baby from someone else or if it came immediately, by instinct?

Jensen breathes in, the cool air of autumn in Austin filling his lungs and clearing his head— he's projecting his own fears again. Every time he sees a baby now, he starts to wonder if they made the right choice, although he can't think of any other option that wouldn't be too painful to bear.

“Sorry about that. You know Osric, always so thorough with the assignments.”

At the familiar voice, Jensen glances up from where he's sitting on the dry ground of the stairs to take in the sight of his boyfriend Jared. At this angle, he looks taller than he already is, stronger— like a brick wall that can’t ever be taken apart. And maybe Jensen isn't ready, and he's not good enough, but Jared will be his backbone. He's always been more brave than Jensen will ever be; holding them together.

“You okay?” Jared asks, eyebrows furrowed.

Jensen realizes he's been staring too long. He stands, dusting off the back of his jeans. “It's your fault for always picking him as your partner.” He grins, trying to ease off Jared's concern. But he doesn't answer the question because he doesn't want to lie to Jared either.

Jared rolls his eyes. “All for the love of good grades.”

Jensen chuckles this time. “We should go, the gang is waiting for us at the diner, and I've been waiting for your ass long enough.”

Jared snorts. “As if you would never not wait for this ass.”

“You're too full of yourself, Padalecki.”

Jared puts an arm around Jensen's shoulders, pulling him closer as they start walking down the street. “Yet you love me.”

Jensen reaches his own arm around Jared's hip, soaking in his body heat, letting it warm up his soul. He sighs dramatically. “Such a burden, that is,” he responds smiling.

Jared kisses him on the side of the head, and any doubt clogging Jensen's mind disappears for the time being.

 

Their friends are sitting in the corner booth, claimed by the group since the first week of school. The diner's right between the campus and the dorms, making it easy to meet and difficult to miss each other. It has great cheap food, and if you go there in the wee hours of the morning you can get a free coffee.

Chad waves from his place between his girlfriend Sophia and Chris— who's showing something to Steve on a sheet of paper on the table.

“Hey guys, thank you for joining the party,” Danneel quips as they take a seat next to Steve, who waves at both before going back to the music sheet he's writing on while Chris raises his head to fist-pump them.

“It's his fault,” Jensen is quick to point out.

Jared gives him a sly look. “Thank you for throwing me under the bus, _honey_.”

Jensen makes a disgusted face at the nickname.

“Can we order before you guys start with the shenanigans? I'm starving.” Genevieve sighs, giving Danneel a tired look.

“Someone is grumpy,” Chad mutters.

Sophia elbows him in the ribs. “Hey, Adrianne, we're ready to order,” she calls out to the waitress.

After all the food has been ordered, they fall into an easy conversation— talking about finals, their professors, and their plans for the upcoming Christmas break. From the outside they're an odd group, all with different career paths that barely leaves space to branch out from the circle of career colleagues, and never mind their crazy personalities clashing sometimes. But they all met in freshman year during an English Composition class and got glued together like gum on a shoe. It's amazing how after three years, with ups and downs and with the different paths their majors take them, that they are still able to get together every Sunday morning for breakfast. It feels like a little piece of family that Jensen has come to appreciate and wants to protect.

He watches them silently, barely paying attention to all their jabbering. It's funny how everything is the same, and yet he feels different. Things are going to change soon, it's unavoidable now. While he knows he has Jared's support and their friend’s, he still worries about the future. It's what he does; he worries about things and keeps their lives in order, while hurricane Jared goes about being his sloppy all-too-happy self and reminds Jensen that he can't control everything and he should enjoy his life. Jensen loves him for it, admires it, and couldn't live without it.

The food arrives and everybody starts eating, except Jensen, who's looking at his pancakes like they are his enemy. A few minutes ago the idea of pancakes was making his mouth water, now his stomach gives a warning cramp at the smell of maple syrup and bacon on Jared's plate. He swallows, wishing the nausea away. But he should know by now that no matter how much he tries, he's going to end up in the bathroom praying to the porcelain god.

“Jared, move,” he pleads, voice strangled with the effort of not ruining everybody's breakfast.

Jared stops midway of biting into his scrambled eggs and stares at him, head tilted. Jensen doesn't have time to explain, he pushes Jared off the seat —who yelps, surprised— and dashes to the bathroom, making it just in time to lose in the toilet the tea he drank not too long ago to calm his rebellious stomach.

When he comes back everybody is looking at him and Jared has now scooted to Steve's side.

Jensen’s face heats up. “Sorry, Jay.”

Jared pats the seat next to him. “I think it's safer if you stay on this side,” he jokes, tucking Jensen under his arm. “You okay now?”

Jensen nods, rubbing his aching stomach. His hand moves unconsciously down to the baby bump he can now feel, even though it's still not very visible through his clothes. Puking your guts out constantly sucks, Jensen isn't going to say he doesn't hate it, but from the day he read the plus sign on the pregnancy test, and then had the talk with Jared— which was a train wreck in itself—he's had a few months to accept the changes his body will have. Even when he has doubts about being a parent this early in the game— and he's scared shitless about their future— he's never doubted that he'll do everything in his ability to keep their baby healthy and safe.

He peeks over at Jared who's looking at him like Jensen hangs the sun and the moon. Jensen smiles, feeling all fuzzy inside, then he notices the table is now completely empty of plates and cutlery. Was he gone for that long?

“We finished as quick as we could. Didn't want to make you sick again,” Jared explains, noting the question on Jensen's face.

 _Oh geez._ “You didn't have to do that.”

“Don't worry about it. We don't mind.” Genevieve assures.

“Speak for yourself.” Chad mumbles.

Jared throws a sugar packet at him at the same time Sophia smacks her boyfriend on the head.

“This is abuse!” Chad complains.

“Stop being an idiot and it will stop,” Chris comments.

“Still with the morning sickness, huh?” Steve asks, ignoring Chris and Chad arguing next to him.

Jensen winces. “Yeah.”

“Shouldn't it be over by now?” Genevieve wonders. “You're in your second trimester, right?”

“Technically. But everybody is different.” Danneel is the one who responds. “I learned in my Gestation Biology class last semester that some people keep having morning sickness until the end of their pregnancy.”

“Oh man,” Jared sighs.

“Sorry,” Danneel says in sympathy.

“Well, nothing I can do about it but just ride it out.” Jensen shrugs.

Danneel, Genevieve, and Sophia nod.

When Jensen looks over at Jared, he's giving him that adoring look again. Jensen blushes. “What?”

“You're amazing. You know that?”

Jensen waves him off. But Jared is having none of it, and before Jensen can protest, Jared silences him with a kiss. Jensen's reasons to refute Jared's views of him are left forgotten and he becomes a puddle.

“Okay, you two. Cut it out with the PDA,” Chris grouches.

Jared smirks once he's stopped kissing Jensen. “You wish you had it this good.” He winks at Chris, who flips him off.

Jensen laughs. He's going to miss all of them during the winter break, but he's glad they get to go home and spend Christmas with their families. Neither him nor Jared have seen them since spring break, and couldn't just get out of work for Thanksgiving. Last summer they both went to do internships in separate States and didn't see each other for almost three long months, the longest they’ve ever been separate since the day Jared's family moved to the house next to Jensen's and he wormed his way into the life of the shy neighbor kid.

Which is why they are in this pickle. Who knew being apart that long could turn off their neurons and let hormones rule? And leave it to Jensen's luck that the one time they have sex without protection is enough to knock him up. If he could take pills like girls do and not end up with a hormonal imbalance that in the worst of cases could kill him— because scientists haven't completely figure out yet how carrier's bodies work— he's pretty sure that lack of judgment would have had zero consequences at the moment.

Now they get to go home and tell their parents they are going to be grandparents ahead of schedule.

It's going to be a _great_ Christmas.

 

 

The drive from Austin to Richardson takes about six hours. Some people prefer taking a plane and make the trip shorter, but Jared loves driving, especially when the long trip involves Jensen. He loves having his boyfriend sitting in the passenger seat while they sing along badly with whatever song comes on the radio until one of them doesn't know the lyrics and loses their little game. And when they stop by a gas station and buy enough junk food to feed a family of five, and sometimes, when they had started the drive back home late in the evening, they would stop at a motel and watch the shitty movies on the TV while they made out, only to end up naked under the covers, movie completely forgotten.

This trip though… it's anything but fun.

For one, they're going home to drop a bomb on their families. A big part of Jared knows that after the shock both their parents will show their support, but there's this tiny part that is nervous about that not being the case. He can't help it, even though their families have never given them a reason to believe that they would give up on them.

But what has him really worried is Jensen.

If the worst was to happen, Jared would deal with it and move forward, but Jensen would take it hard. He's always been the good kid, the one that follows the rules and has a good head on his shoulders. And the thought of disappointing his parents is something Jensen has never been able to deal with well.

Jared doesn't want to disappoint his parents either, but he's been getting into trouble since pre-school and he thinks his parents won't be that much surprised about his new antic.

So, here they are, driving home with the soft, cool breeze of December in Texas floating through their open windows while Jensen's left leg moves up and down repeatedly, and he fidgets in his seat every five minutes closer they get to their destination— Jared actually stared at the clock in the dash, he's not bullshitting here.

Jared is trying to be the calm one in the car, Jensen is doing a pretty good job in the freaking out department for the both of them. But all that nervous energy… it's getting to him, and he's seriously starting to think Jensen's going to have a stroke before they get there.

He places his hand on Jensen's leg to stop it from moving, keeping his eyes on the road as he rubs his thumb over it.

Jensen puts his own hand over Jared's. Then he looks down at the swell of their growing baby and sighs. “They will know as soon as they see me.”

“They won't.”

“Are you telling me you don't notice this?” Jensen points at the protruding belly under his shirt.

“You can only see it that clear because of the seatbelt,” Jared argues, and it's true. The seatbelt is tightening Jensen's shirt and without it the belly is not that noticeable. “How much you wanna bet Josh thinks it's a beer belly?” Jared chuckles.

“Not funny,” Jensen grumbles.

“It's going to be fine.”

“What if it's not?” Jensen asks, and Jared’s chest pangs with how scared his voice sounds.

Jared dares to look at him for a second. “Even if they disowned us— which they won’t— we will still have each other and Jellybean.” He moves his hand from Jensen's leg to rub the baby bump lovingly.

“I know. It's just...”

“You gotta have more faith in your parents, Jen.”

“Like the faith they have in me to not screw up?” Jensen bites back.

Jared checks if there's any cars behind before easing his car to the highway shoulder and stopping. He turns to face Jensen. “That's not fair to say and you can’t be this hard on yourself. We were irresponsible and stupid, but you know what? I'm not worried, and I won't feel guilty for being happy we are starting our own family.”

“Jay, I didn't mean—” Jensen shakes his head. He closes his eyes and exhales before opening them again. “I'm happy to have your baby. But we had a plan: finish school, get good jobs, then get married and start our family.”

“You know what they say about best made plans. It's what it is now. We gotta stop thinking about what it should have been, and deal with how things actually are the best way we can.”

Jensen bites his bottom lip.

  
“It's going to be alright, no matter what happens. I need you to believe in that, and to remember it whenever there is an obstacle down the road. Can you do that?”

Jensen nods. “I'll try,” he chokes out, and pulls Jared into a hug. “I might need a reminder once in a while. Is that okay?”

Jared hugs him back tightly, and smiles softly. “I'll gladly do that.”

 

They make it to the Ackles home as the sun hangs low in the sky. And just as Jared said, their parents don't mention anything if they see something different in Jensen. They have dinner together without any worrisome comments flying around, and everything is just completely normal.

By the time Jared's parents are saying goodbye, Jensen seems less nervous. Jared kisses him softly and follows his parent across the Ackles' garden and driveway to his house next door to have some alone time with his dad and mom before the rest of the family arrives tomorrow and they hog all of their attention.

But, deep into the night, Jared climbs out of his bedroom window, walks across the yard silently and goes up the cherry tree next to Jensen's room as he's been doing since before they even started dating. He easily pulls the window all the way up, and comes inside. Jensen is already waiting for him, smiling knowingly, and pats a space on his bed for Jared to lie down next to him.

“Aren't you going to sleep?” Jared asks drowsily sometime later when he doesn't feel Jensen's breath become shallow against his neck.

“I'm not tired.”

Of course Jared knows that's not the reason why Jensen is still awake. He's a hundred percent sure that Jensen's running through his mind how Christmas morning will go when they tell the family about the baby. And that's okay, if it serves to prepare him and calm him, because whatever he's thinking right now? it's probably much worse than what's actually going to happen.

But Jared doesn't want Jensen getting too lost in his mind, he should be right here, in the now. No one can predict the future, and trying to… it's just extra stress nobody needs.

“Oh, really?” he asks, and moves away so he can see Jensen's face. “I know a trick or two to help you fall sleep.” He smiles slyly.

Jensen's eyes sparkle knowingly under the rays of moon light. “What would that be?”

Jared drops a kiss on Jensen's freckled nose. “A little bit of exercising.”

“Like sit ups and crunches?” Jensen asks innocently, playing the game.

“I'm thinking about the sexy,” he kisses Jensen's jaw, ”naughty” moves to kiss in that spot right under Jensen's ear that makes his boyfriend hold in a moan, “your parents are sleeping right down the hall, kind.”

“I'm so down with that,” Jensen agrees, pulling Jared up to kiss him.

You would think that after six years since the day Jared dared to kiss Jensen for the first time, making out would be old story. That they know each other so well it should be boring to be together. The truth is: Jared will never get tired or bored of loving Jensen. And Jensen shows, and tells him, the same thing. There's isn't a future where Jared doesn't see himself with Jensen at his side. Call it fate, soulmates, the other half— Jensen is all of that and more.

Jensen breaks the kiss and tugs at Jared's t-shirt. Jared can't stop looking at him even as he pulls his t-shirt off, because hey, his boyfriend looks fucking hot with his kiss swollen lips, warm cheeks and eyes so open Jared can see all the way to Jensen's core. He moves back to kiss him again, dragging his lips down his neck, his hand sneaking inside Jensen's t-shirt to feel the heated flesh and the curve of his pregnant belly, before he moves up, taking the shirt with him, and teases Jensen's nipples.

Jensen jerks, biting on his bottom lip to stop the shout that was surely about to come out of his mouth, and hitting his head on the headboard.

“Ow,” he chuckles, breathless.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Jensen reassures, sitting up to finish getting his t-shirt off. “Just… stay away from this area,” he waves at his chest. “They're very sensitive and I won't be able to stay quiet.”

Jared smiles. “Do I get to play with them when we go back to the dorm?”

“Yes, you horn-dog,” Jensen agrees, grinning as he rolls his eyes.

Jared kisses away his faked annoyance. He knows how sensitive the pregnancy has turned Jensen. Right after he stopped puking pretty much everything he ate, it was like the horny-switch turned on. These days, Jared just has to kiss him until Jensen is panting and Jensen's dick is up for some action. Jared isn't going to lie— he's pretty fond of this side of Jensen's pregnancy.

“Do we have lube in here?”

“Backpack,” Jensen points.

Jared narrows his eyes. “And I'm the horn-dog,” he mutters, getting up and rummaging through Jensen's backpack until he finds the tube of lube.

“Hey, pregnant hormonal guy, here,” Jensen retorts, dragging his pajama pants off.

Jared takes a minute to appreciate Jensen's nakedness, and his cock loves what he sees. He's seen Jensen naked many times, but this, now, there's the raised swell of the baby they made together. That's his baby growing inside the person he loves most in the world. And he has to have his hands on all of that, right now. “You know that excuse is going to die in five months right?”

“Whatever, I'm going to use it as much as I can,” Jensen says, taking hold of Jared's pajama pants and pulling them down.

Jared willfully steps out of them before settling back in the bed between the v of Jensen's legs. “I'm not really complaining here.”

“You better not.” Jensen smiles cheekily. “Now get on with it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Once his fingers are lubed, Jared wastes no time in getting Jensen ready for his dick. He keeps kissing Jensen through it because his boyfriend can barely hold in the moans, arching into Jared's body each time his finger goes back inside him.

“You know, I'm curious if I can make you come just with my fingers,” Jared wonders, voice gruff with how much Jensen is turning him on. He moves his fingers in a different direction, brushing them exactly where he knows it will make Jensen see stars.

Jensen keens, muffling the sound on Jared's shoulder

“I bet I could.”

“I'm pretty sure you can, but unless you want my parents to show up in here, you're going to have to try out that theory when we're not in my childhood bedroom,” Jensen pants.

“At the same time that I play with your nipples?”

“Fuck,” Jensen whines. “Stop torturing me.”

Now it's Jared's turn to smile cheekily, although thinking about those things has him so rock hard that he's going to shoot his load before he's even inside Jensen if he keeps talking about it. He takes his fingers out and lubes his dick quickly. Another perk of Jensen being knocked up? don't have to worry about condoms for a while, which is good because sometimes Jensen is so horny that he basically jumps Jared as soon he walks through the door of their dorm room, and everything goes pretty fast from then on.

Jared takes over Jensen's mouth again as he pushes his cock inside. Jensen's mouth opens in a silent scream, breaking the kiss, body arching with every inch Jared pushes inside him, his hands squeezing Jared ass and pulling him all the way in until Jared bottoms out.

It takes everything in Jared not to come right there and then.

When he starts to thrust, Jensen moves his hands up to his back, fingers digging into the flesh. Jared takes his time savoring every breathless moan fanning over his face, kissing the salty taste on Jensen's skin between his neck and shoulder, feeling how Jensen tightens around his dick like he doesn't want it to ever leave his asshole, and marveling as Jensen unfolds and gives everything to him, his cock trapped between their bodies leaving a trail of pre-come on their bellies.

All Jared can think about is how his love for Jensen swells up his heart with such warm feelings.

Soon Jensen is tensing under him, and Jared's hips move faster, fucking Jensen through his orgasm, until his own hits him, and he has to hide his face in Jensen’s neck to shout. Jensen combs his fingers through Jared’s sweat damped hair as they take a minute for their hearts to stop beating so fast.

Later, Jared will get some old t-shirt to clean them both, and then get under the covers with Jensen snuggling on his side. He can't help but smile when Jensen is out for the count seconds later.

 

Christmas Eve morning, Jared spends his time helping out his mom and Momma D in getting the Ackles' house ready for the arrival of the rest of the family for the dinner tonight, while Jensen is out with his dad picking up Mackenzie and Megan from the airport. By the time Jeff and Josh arrive with their respective wife and girlfriend, the house is only missing the dinner on the Christmas themed dining table.

Jared watches as the house fills with the noise of the rest of the family, as they laugh and catch up with each other. He's always loved Christmas exactly because of this: both families under the same roof. Every year they switch between houses, but they always eat together, and everybody shows up. It's a tradition that Jared doubts will ever die, because once their parents can’t keep carrying it on, they will be the ones to keep it alive.

Jensen returns with the girls soon after that. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

Megan runs to hug Jared as soon she spots him, and Mackenzie is not too far behind.

“How's school treating you both?” Jared asks.

Megan twists his mouth. “Please, let’s not talk about papers and midterms. I’ve had enough of those for a while.”

“I'm with her,” Mackenzie adds.

Jensen chuckles behind them. “I thought you couldn't wait until you were in college?”

“Shut up, Jensen.” They both say at the same time, and Jared can't help but laugh.

“Hey, little bro!” Josh comes out of the kitchen, beer in one hand. “About time you showed that ugly face of yours.” He pulls Jensen in a one armed hug.

“In your dreams, ass cheeks.”

“Don't let the Mrs. hear you say that,” Josh snorts. He turns his attention to the girls. “Hey, princesses, did you have a good trip?”

Jared moves next to Jensen as the girls fill in Josh about the plane ride. “Everything good?”

Jensen glances at him. “Yeah, everything's okay.” He tangles his fingers with Jared. “You lost the bet, Josh hasn't said anything yet.”

“The night is young.”

“Alright children, come help set up the table so we can start eating,” Sherri calls from the kitchen.

“Hey Jensen, I know college life is hard and all, but maybe you should lay off the junk food because that pudge is worrisome,” Josh comments pointing at Jensen's belly before leaving the room.

Jared tries to hold in his laugh but, when Jensen glares at him, he loses it.

“Goddammit,” Jensen pouts.

 

They have a great night; eat enough food to cause a food coma, and play charades once they're back in the living room a couple of hours later. It's easy to act like nothing has changed, and for the night Jared forgets what they have to do the next day.

Once it's morning, reality comes crashing back in.

“When are we going to tell them?” Jensen whispers, rinsing his empty cereal bowl before setting it in the dishwasher.

Jared shrugs. “We agreed we would tell them today.”

“Yeah, but when today?”

Jared peeks behind him where the family is gathered in the living room opening presents. “Not now.”

“Okay,” Jensen easily agrees.

“Jensen, Jared, come open your presents before Jeff and Josh steal them.” Jared's mom calls from the living room.

“Mother, I'm offended that you would think such a thing of us,” Jeff answers, fake insulted.

“I don't think, honey, I know.”

Everybody laughs.

 

They are not putting it off. It's just that once the presents were all open, their parents decided the family should make a trip to the apple farm not too far from home, and they waste the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon picking apples and then having a late lunch at the diner two blocks from it.

“We should tell them now,” Jared says, once they're back home and everybody is just lazing around.

Jensen tenses next to him. “Now?”

Jared grabs his hand. “It's going to be fine.”

Jensen nods and takes a deep breath. “Alright, let’s just get it over with.”

They both walk to the living room and sit together on the loveseat.

“It looks like it's about to rain,” Alan comments, staring at the sky outside.

“Probably just for the night,” Gerri answers, sipping his second cup of coffee.

Jared glances at Jensen, who smiles nervously and nods.

“Uh, hey y'all?”

Everybody in the room looks at him. Okay, this isn't as easy as he thought it would be. His hand tightens around Jensen's. He shouldn't be nervous; he's been telling Jensen over and over again that there won't be any issue with telling their family about the baby. It's going to be fine.

“We gotta tell you something,” Jensen continues for him.

“Oh? What is it sweetheart?”

Jensen looks at him again, pleading with his eyes, and Jared just says it.

“We're having a baby.”

The gasps explode in the room.

“Wait, what?” Jeff asks, confused.

“I'm pregnant,” Jensen fills in.

“Holy shit,” Josh and Jeff say.

“Boys, language,” Sherri admonishes.

“I hope you're not joking, because this is not funny,” Alan warns.

Jared feels Jensen wince, and moves closer to him.

“We're not joking,” Jared says very seriously.

“Oh, boys,” Sherri sighs.

“Wow, that's unexpected,” Gerri comments. “I guess it—“

“I thought I taught you better,” Donna's voice cuts in the air. She's looking straight at Jensen. “We had a plan together. You forgot that?”

“No, I didn't!”

“Momma D, we didn't plan this,” Jared intervenes.

“Mom, please don't be angry,” Jensen's begs, voice shaking.

“I'm not angry, Jensen,” Donna stands up, “I'm just disappointed.” And she walks out, without looking at any of them.

Jared can feel Jensen shaking next to him. “Jen-”

Jensen pulls his hand out of Jared's and he's up and out of the front door before any of them can blink.

Jared glances back at the rest of the family.

“You should go after him,” Alan says kindly. “We need a moment to take in the news, anyways.” He smiles.

Jared nods. He stops to get his jacket and Jensen's before stepping outside. It has started to drizzle already and he can't see Jensen anywhere in front of the house. It doesn't matter, there's no place where Jensen can go that Jared doesn't know of.

He starts walking down the road.

 

Of course he finds his boyfriend in the park where they spent many hours playing when little; where their friendship grew each day and they became completely inseparable. It's full on raining now, and Jared is glad that at least, as upset as he must be, Jensen had the peace of mind to hide inside the penguin house that ends in a slide. He's still a bit wet though, but not as bad as Jared is.

Jared crawls inside the space that's too small for them. He sits next to Jensen and lays the extra jacket over Jensen's shoulders. Jensen doesn't say a word to him, just stays with his knees drawn up, hands over his pregnant belly, and staring at nothing.

They sit in silence for a while, the sound of the rain hitting on the plastic penguin drowning any other sounds outside.

Jared wishes he could reassure Jensen. But whatever he says now, Jensen won't believe, and he feels like he tricked Jensen into trusting nothing bad would happen. He truly believed things weren't going to go this badly.

He's never seen Jensen this upset before.

“Jensen, say something.”

Jensen sighs, and rests his head against the plastic wall. “What do you want me to say?” he asks flatly.

Jared's heart twists painfully. He's never been able to stand Jensen being sad either. “I'm sorry.”

Jensen rolls his head to look at him. “It's not your fault.” He shrugs, ghost of a broken smile on his face.

Jared can't take it, and he does what he knows best. He drags Jensen into his arms and hugs him like he never wants to let him go. Jared will _never_ let Jensen go.

Jensen hugs back tentatively at first, and then he's clinging to Jared as if his life depends on it.

Jared doesn't stop hugging Jensen even after his tears stop falling.

 

Once Jensen calms down, Jared convinces him to spend the night in his house. Jared's parents are waiting for them, and as soon as they walk inside, Sherri embraces Jensen in her arms. It only serves to start Jensen all over again with the tears.

“It will be better tomorrow.” Sherri smiles softly, wiping Jensen's tears with her thumbs. “Just go to sleep.”

Jensen nods, and starts climbing the stairs to Jared's room.

“Thank you, Mom.” Jared hugs her, trying to not start crying too because he was right about his parents, and he loves them so much. If only Jensen's parents would have been more understanding.

“No matter what, we still love you,” she assures him.

Jared sees his dad nodding in agreement.

“We'll talk more in the morning.”

“Okay,” Jared grins. “Goodnight,” he says climbing the stairs to his room.

“Goodnight, sweetie.”

Jensen is sitting on his bed waiting; he's taken his wet jeans off and he's hugging himself. Jared goes to his duffel bag and takes out his hoodie and a t-shirt he brought with him from the dorm. He silently undresses Jensen out of his wet shirt and gets him into his hoodie, and then he takes off his own wet clothes and puts the dry t-shirt on. Quickly, he runs to the bathroom for a towel to dry his and Jensen's hair before they finally lie down on the bed.

They barely sleep through the night.

 

Jared can hear the sound of plates clinking as he walks down the stairs. When he enters the kitchen he's startled to find Jensen's parents there too.

He's surprised at the anger he feels when he sees Donna. She's like a second mother to him and he's never felt anything but love towards her, but she broke Jensen's heart and that's something he'll never stand for.

“Where's is Jensen, Jared?” Gerri asks, capturing his attention.

“He's not coming down,” Jared says evenly. “I'm just gonna get some food and go back up.”

Donna and Alan share a look. But Jared ignores them in order to get some food that he's gonna have to force Jensen to eat. From the corner of his eye, he notices Donna walking out and start climbing the stairs. He drops everything he has in his arms and moves to go after her.

Gerri stops him. “Jared, sit down.”

“No,” he bites back. He doesn't want to be disrespectful to his dad, but he's not letting Donna cause more pain to Jensen. “Dad, let me go.”

“Jared, son, it's alright,” Alan adds.

Jared's jaw hurts from how hard he's trying to not tell them to fuck off.

His dad can see his face though, and his mom touches his arm calmly. “Jared, sit down and let Jensen and Donna talk.”

Jared looks at his mom, wounded. He thought she was on their side.

“They need this.”

Jared glances back at his dad, who hasn't stopped blocking his way, and he sighs, defeated. He sits at the table, arms crossed and still fuming.

Alan is sitting on the opposite side of him. “I appreciate how protective of Jensen you are.”

Jared has nothing to say to that.

“Too protective, sometimes,” Gerri chuckles, taking the seat next to Jared.

Jared glares at him. Gerri raises an eyebrow. Jared lowers his eyes.

“She only went up there to apologize.”

Alan's voice makes him look back up.

“I'm not going to explain why she reacted the way she did, but one thing you can't ever doubt is that she loves Jensen.”

Jared unfolds his arms.

“Are we clear?” Alan asks.

Jared nods.

“Now, let’s talk about the baby,” Sherri gleefully says, taking a seat next to her husband. “How far along is Jensen?”

“Eighteen weeks.”

“And you waited all this time to tell us?!” she exclaims, baffled.

Jared winces. “We didn't think it was something we should tell you on the phone.”

“Well, you gotta give him that,” Gerri tells his wife.

“Has he been seeing an androcologist?” Sherri continues.

“Yeah, at the students’ clinic.”

“Oh, that won't do,” she says, standing again to grab her phone book. “I'm sure my doctor can recommend us someone in Austin.”

“Do you know what you're having?” It's Alan who asks this time.

“Not yet.”

“I bet you it's a boy,” Gerri announces.

Alan huffs. “And I say you're wrong, old man, it's a girl.”

“Oh yeah? How much?”

“A hundred.”

“Deal.” They shake hands.

Jared smirks. “You're seriously betting on my kid?”

Gerri points at him. “Hey, I gotta get me some easy money.”

Alan rolls his eyes. “You mean I'm getting the easy money.” Then he scratches his stubble, contemplating. “It's not going to be easy with the both of you still being college students.”

“We know.” Jared leans over the table. “But we'll do it. Our kid is going to grow up happy and healthy; we'll make sure of it. No matter how hard it gets.” The three of them stare at Jared. “What?”

“I don't think they're going to need much of our help,” Gerri says to Alan, a bit awed.

“We've got awesome parental skills,” Alan says, high-fiving Gerri.

“We were all surprised about the news, mostly because none of us expected you two making us grandparents so early. But don't ever forget you can count on us,” Sherri reassures, taking a seat again. Gerri and Alan nod at her statement.

“Always.”

They all turn at Donna's voice to see her and Jensen standing at the entrance of the kitchen. She's holding Jensen's hand like a mother does with her little kid to protect him. But Jared's eyes are focused on Jensen, who looks back at him with a smile, the traces of sadness of last night gone from his whole body. And any trace of anger Jared had left washes away. He can forgive and forget easily as long as Jensen is happy.

Alan stands to give Jensen a hug, and whispers something to him that Jensen answers with a nod.

Donna walks over and bends to hug him. “I'm sorry for how I reacted last night, Jay-Jay.”

Jared hugs her. “I forgive you, Momma D.”

Donna pulls back, leaving her hands cupping Jared's face. “Thank you.”

Jensen sits down beside him and Jared turns to face him. “Okay?”

“Yeah,” he answers, smiling blindingly.

“Good.” Jared leans over to kiss him.

“Is the drama done? Because we're all over at the house dying to find out more about the baby.” Mackenzie says, her head poking through the back door.

“You can tell the rest they can come over,” Alan shoos her away.

“Is there any coffee?” Jensen asks yawning.

“You can't drink coffee!” both Donna and Sherri say, scandalized.

Jensen frowns. “I can have one cup.”

“What?!”

“Who told you that?”

Jared watches as his boyfriend and soon-to-be grandmas argue about coffee intake, while his dad and Alan watch the show like it's the best movie in the world.

He chuckles to himself. This is more like a typical Ackles-Padalecki gathering. Jared is relieved everything is back to its rightful order.

 

 

 ****

 

Jensen stares at the blank document on his laptop, the blinking cursor mocking him. Normally he easily would be half way through this paper because he likes writing essays and expressing his opinion and learned knowledge with each line. Jared loves to call him a nerd for that, which is quite funny coming from the mathlete. Their kid is going to be really smart, that at least is a given.

Jensen sighs. He’s spacing out again, and that's the problem. That, and that he's so freaking tired his eyes droop on their own once he starts daydreaming, and when he snaps back to reality, ten minutes or more of his day has gone to waste.

Maybe he should just take a quick nap. One hour, no more than two. It can't hurt right? He's obviously getting nowhere forcing himself to stay awake. He leans against the desk chair; his back will appreciate the break too.

“What do you say, Jellybean?” Jensen rubs his growing belly, enticing his daughter to answer maybe with a tiny kick. Nothing happens. “You're going to move on your own terms aren't you?” Jensen chuckles. Him and Jared have been talking to her every chance they get to see if that will spark some movement, since Jensen entered the part of his pregnancy where the baby normally starts to let her presence be known. He isn't worried because she's not moving yet. She's healthy and meeting every single mark perfectly. Jellybean is just too comfortable sleeping inside the warmth of Jensen's belly.

They should probably stop calling her Jellybean, and pick a name for her already. But it's kind of hard not to when that's what they have been doing since Jensen's first ultrasound, and Jared pointed at the monitor saying the baby looked like a Jellybean. So they started referring to her as that until they could see what gender the baby is. She's probably stuck with that nickname for the rest of her life.

Thinking about the gender reminds him about the day he called his dad to let him know he won the bet, and that he was sending the picture to mom. His mom has been calling him every day to ask how things are going, and give him advice on how to handle pregnancy shenanigans that he wouldn't know what to do about (and making sure he's not drinking any coffee, to Jensen's dismay). It makes him happy to know his mom is there for him, and his early fears and doubts about parenting seem less daunting knowing that. His dad too, and Mackenzie and Josh, but Jensen has always been closer to his mom. And the moment he spent last month thinking his relationship with his mom was ruined by the news of the baby, broke him. If she hadn't gone up to talk things over with him, and still was disappointed in him… Jensen doesn't know how he'd be dealing with that today.

After their talk, Jensen understands that his mom had reacted out of fear. She's always made sure her children follow some life guidelines that will diminish the amount of hardship that's part of it. Having a baby when he and Jared are still in college, with part-time jobs and no place to live— it's far from ideal. She started thinking about Jensen and Jared's future and panicked. And her panic came out the way it did. Once she had some time to stop freaking out, her proactive side kicked in and she was herself again. So she apologized for what she had said to him, and swore until Jensen believed her that she was neither mad nor disappointed in him.

God, that day was such a clusterfuck. But all is good now, and that's all that matters.

Jensen glances at the computer clock that reads 1:05 pm, and puts the laptop to sleep. He stretches when he stands up, and walks towards Jared's bed, ignoring his own. He likes Jared's bed better; it smells like him. He's out for the count as soon as his head hits the pillow.

He wakes up some time later to find Jared sitting on the desk chair with his feet up on the corner of his bed, textbook on his lap. He didn't even hear when Jared came back from his calculus peer tutoring group.

Jensen sits up as quickly as his baby bump allows him. “What time is it?”

Jared raises his eyes from his book and glances at his wrist watch. “It's fifteen past six.”

“Crap, I overslept.” Jensen disentangles himself from the bed sheets. “Shit. Why didn't you wake me up?!”

Jared frowns. “Because if you're sleeping it’s because you need it?”

Jensen huffs, pushing Jared's feet off the bed so he can get up. “I need that chair.”

“Alright, sour face, what's up with you?”

“Jared, I've a fifteen page paper due in two days to write. Give me the chair.”

Jared holds his hands up in surrender and moves to sit on Jensen's bed near the desk. “You want some help?” he asks, once Jensen has rebooted the laptop.

Jensen shakes his head. “You've got to study for tomorrow's test.”

Jared throws his book onto his empty bed. “I've been studying since the weekend. If I don't know the material by now, I'm not going to learn it in the last few hours before the test.” Jensen is not sure he wants to take Jared's study time, even when he says he doesn't need it.

“C'mon, let me help you.” Puppy dog eyes, begging.

Jensen sighs in defeat. Bastard. “Alright, if you wish to be bored to death so much, knock yourself out.”

Jared beams, and reaches for Jensen's textbook. “Hey, if we finish early we can do _the dirty_ after.” Jared wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Jensen chortles. “I knew there was a reason for your eagerness.”

 

Jensen's appreciation for days off from school and work has grown tenfold these past months. Before getting pregnant he would spend it out with Jared, picking up shifts at the library's front desk for extra money. Now it's more of a quiet Saturday morning, waking up late and relaxing on the bed doing nothing. Leaning on Jared as he brushes his fingers and hand over his naked belly, throwing out names they could give their daughter. It's funny, right now, Jensen can relax when the room looks like a tornado hit it overnight, when before he would be on Jared to pick up his crap. But he's so tired he doesn’t give a fuck about picking anything up.

“I heard this one at work: how about Zoe?” Jared suggests.

“Sounds nice. Don't know if it's right for her, though.”

Jared hums in agreement.

Jensen tip-toes his fingers over Jared's hand on his bump. “So, I was watching Rizzoli and Isles with Sophia the other day.”

“Okay...” Jared says, obviously confused with the change of subject.

“I've always liked how Isles’ first name sounds with Rizzoli's accent, and maybe that could be our daughter's name?”

“Oh. What is it?”

“Mara.”

“Huh,”

“Is it stupid?” Jensen adds quickly, sitting up and turning slightly to face Jared. “It's stupid, giving her the name of a fictional character. Let's just keep looking for another one.”

“I like it.”

“You do?”

“Mara. Sounds cute and badass at the same time. Yup. That's the one.”

“You sure?”

Jared kisses him sweetly. “I'm sure.”

Jensen smiles. “Mara it is.”

“I won't stop calling her Jellybean,” Jared adds.

Jensen laughs. “I didn't think so.”

 

“We should get our own place.” Jensen's been thinking about it for a while. Of course getting a place means paying a higher rent than the student rate for living in the dorms, but Jensen's momma taught him well, and one of those things is to plan ahead. He's been saving some of his paycheck since freshman year, and he's pretty sure they can put down a deposit with it and get some furniture.

“I know.” Jared answers, taking a sip of his soda. “I've been looking.”

Jensen grins surprised. “You have?”

“Of course. A dorm room is no place for the three of us.”

Jensen is pleasantly surprised to say the least. Sometimes he wonders if Jared's going to be one of those parents that forget their kid in the store, because he can be that big of a klutz. And then he does things like this, and Jensen thinks that he should give Jared a bit more credit. “Any luck?”

“Not yet.”

“We'll find something.”

 

Jensen is sick of apartment hunting. Yet here he is, sitting in the laundromat, scanning today's newspaper in search of something they can actually afford and isn't in a creepy neighborhood, as Jared takes their wet clothes out and divides them between the free dryers, humming the song playing on the speakers.

Being an adult sucks. Why does everybody want to grow up so fast? Don't they know that once you're responsible for your own shit, fun is over? Whose idea was it to romanticize adulthood and trick children into yearning for it?!

Okay, Jensen is a bit grumpy today; he's going to admit that to himself. But who can blame him after a whole month of searching and looking at apartments between school and jobs, to find nothing yet. The clock is ticking. Mara's birth is in twelve weeks, they don't have a place to live, and the few baby related things they have been able to gather so far is stored in Chris and Steve's slot in their basement.

Jared slumps next to him, sneaking his arm over Jensen's shoulder to half-hug him. “I can hear your thoughts over the noise of the dryer and the music.”

Jensen scratches his nose. “There's nothing in here we could go check out,” he says annoyed, throwing the paper in the trash bin a few feet from them.

“We just have to keep looking.”

“At this rate, Mara is going to be here and we still won't have a place to live.”

“Hopefully that won't be the case.”

Jensen looks down and places his hand on top of his belly. “She's kicking.”

Like every time since Mara started to move couple of weeks ago, Jensen announces it and Jared quickly puts his hand on the place Jensen indicates to feels the kick, gleeful expression covering his face.

“Oh, that was a strong kick right there,” Jared celebrates.

“No shit.”

“Language.”

“If you're going to start to sound like your mother, tell me now so I can escape in time,” Jensen deadpans.

Jared gives him a ' _Shut up, you little shit'_ squint, and turns his attention back to the kicking baby.

Jensen's cellphone rings just then, and he wiggles to get it out of his back pocket. “Hi, Steve.” he salutes, and listens to his friend as he pushes Jared away from his attempt to kiss his belly, knowing it'll embarrass the hell out of him in public. “No, we still haven't found a place.” he answers to Steve. “Jared, I swear I'll end you. Stop that,” he warns, and glares when Jared laughs at his distress. But Steve catches his attention again. “Really?”

Jared mouths out a ‘What?’

“We're almost done with our laundry. Maybe an hour, give or take. Yeah, okay. See you there.”

“What was that all about?”

“Steve wants us to go look at an apartment that’s just been vacated yesterday, right next to his building.”

Jared smiles smugly. “What did I tell you.”

Jensen rolls his eyes.

 

The apartment is a one and a half bedroom, on the third floor. It's a nice size, not too big, not too small. With a kitchen that comes with the fridge and stove already and overlooks the living room through an open wall. What sells it for Jensen besides the location, are two things. Firstly, the landlady, Mrs. Quinney, rents them with a student price, as her building is so close to campus, and, second and most importantly, the half room between the bedroom and bathroom that the previous tenant used for storage, is big enough to be a baby's room.

It's not likely that they'll find anything better in their price range. By the end of the day, the deposit and first month’s rent has been handed to Mrs. Quinney, and the lease has been signed.

They move in with the help of the gang over the next weekend. It doesn't take too long; they only have their bed set, the baby's crib, the rest of the things they had in Steve's basement, and a sofa the landlady sells them for cheap. It isn't much, but it's enough, and it's with the fruit of their own effort. Both agreed to only go to their parents in case of a really serious necessity.

They can do this, as long as they are together.

“Getting a place,” Jared makes a swoopy mark with his index finger in the air. “Check.” Jensen chuckles and snuggles closer to Jared in their bed.

“Having a baby girl in that crib,” Jared rubs his hand over the swell of his belly, “soon.”

Jared smiles up to him, and Jensen is grateful that while adulthood might suck sometimes, at least he's going through it with the love of his life.

 

 

Jared has a secret. Well, it's not as much his secret as he's being forced to keep _something_ secret from Jensen, and that's pretty hard for him, because they tell each other everything. But he keeps reminding himself that it's for a good reason any time he has the urge to spill the beans.

It's a miracle he manages to not screw up the surprise, and goes along with the plan to a T. Except, when the time comes, he's vibrating so much with excitement that Jensen keeps sending him confused looks for the better part of the day, and Jared fears he might suspect something.

“Why are we going to the diner in the middle of the week?” Jensen asks, staring out of the window in the car.

“Hey, it's spring break. What's wrong with meeting the gang today?”

Jensen sighs. “Nothing. It's just we have to finish painting Mara's room and I prefer to use our free time on finishing everything that's still left before she gets here in a few weeks.”

“I know. But all we've been doing lately is school, work, and setting up the apartment. We deserve a little break, don't you think?” he says, driving the car into the diner's parking lot.

Jensen shrugs. “I guess you’re right.”

Jared parks and then follows Jensen's swaying gate to the entrance.

“Is this even open yet?” Jensen wonders. “I see nobody inside, it's too dark.”

Jared checks the door. “The door is open. We might as well wait for them inside. I'm sure the staff is somewhere in the back.”

The bell rings when they come through the door, which is the signal for their family and friends to jump out of their hiding places yelling “Surprise!” when the lights come on as confetti and banners fall from the ceiling.

“Holy shit!” Jensen jumps.

“I'm going to let that one slide, because we did scare you,” Sherri says.

“What's everybody doing here?” Jensen croaks. “What—does that say baby shower?” he adds, pointing at one of the banners.

“Yes, it does,” Donna answers, coming to hug him.

Jensen turns his head. “Did you know about this?” he asks Jared.

Jared grins. “I bet you didn't have a clue, huh?”

Jensen shakes his head and lets his mom drag him inside.

“Oh wow, you actually kept your mouth shut,” Chad mocks.

“Unlike other people,” Genevieve adds, looking pointedly at Chad.

“Excuse me, I'm a vault. You have to pry secrets from my cold, dead body.”

The rest of the gang snorts in disbelief.

“Whatever, losers.”

Jared pats him on the back. “Don't worry, we still like you.”

“Of course you do. My charm is irresistible.”

“He just doesn't know when to quit, does he?” Chris asks Danneel, who shakes her head.

“Stop fooling around over there and come take a seat,” Alan shouts at them.

 

When his mom called him to tell him about her and Donna's plan of throwing a baby shower, Jared had been dubious about it. He had thought about doing one himself, but knowing Jensen like he does and how his boyfriend would probably murder him, Jared waved the idea off. Of course he told this to his mom and Momma D, and they both insisted they knew better than him.

Well, turns out they actually did.

Jensen had been mortified as his mother had dragged him to sit right at the center of attention, planted a crown on his head, and then took Jared's hand to do the same with him. But, as the baby shower went on, Jensen relaxed and actually started to enjoy it.

Jared wasn't able to be there when the family decorated the diner with the banners and signs, but he had to admit they’d done an awesome job. They had pushed the single tables towards the side of the diner that they weren't currently occupying to create two separate areas— one to hold the gifts everybody brought, the other for the food, and they kept the chairs for the guests to sit around the guest of honor. Basically it looked like a baby party store had thrown up all of its colorful decorations all over in glorious organized chaos, but he's touched by the amount of time and effort that their family and friends put into this and he's sure Jensen feels the same way.

Jensen is currently sitting on the bench where they eat on Sunday mornings with the gang, talking animatedly with the girls about the baby. He looks very happy. Jared doesn't know how, but his mom and Momma D managed to even make him participate in the games Jensen swore since their teenage years he would never do whenever he got pregnant. Well, their jolliness is kind of contagious; he can't fault Jensen for that. Jared is just glad he's having a good time.

Jared glances back at the table with the gifts. There are a lot. There's stuff in there that he and Jensen haven't even gotten around to getting yet, and now they don't have to. Jared is having mixed feelings about that.

“Son,” his dad slaps him affectionately on the shoulder, “what are you doing all the way over here brooding?”

“I'm not brooding,” Jared pouts.

“Alright, out with it.”

“It's stupid, don't worry about it.”

Gerri gives him a pointed look, the same one he would use to get the truth out of him and Jeff whenever they did something they shouldn't have.

Jared sighs. “It's the presents.”

“What about them?”

Jared considers his dad for a second. “Did all of you plan this baby shower, knowing Jensen didn't want one, may I add, to have an excuse to help us with the baby's stuff?”

Gerri smile is all the answer Jared needs.

“You've always been too smart for your own good.”

Jared sighs. “Dad—”

“Jared, it’s fine.” Gerri pats him on the face. “We all understand that you boys want to be independent and deal with your problems yourselves, but that doesn't mean that we, as your family, can’t step in and help once in a while. Let us do that, at least.”

Jared's eyes sting, and he swallows the knot of emotion in his throat. “Okay.”

“Besides, did you ask for our help?”

“No.”

“There you go. It's a gift for our granddaughter. That's all.”

Jared grins. “Thanks Dad.”

“Any time, bud. Now go sit with your boyfriend and have a good time.”

Jared does as he's told, and gets himself wedged between Jensen and the group of girls. Jensen looks at him, all cheeks pink and glowing smile, and then leans in to him.

“Everything alright?”

“Yup, more than.”

And Jared totally believes it when he says it.

 

Their apartment is a mess, and this time it's not Jared's fault.

“Where are we supposed to put all this stuff?” Jared scratches his head, pensive, glancing at all the boxes and gift bags currently occupying every single inch of their living room.

Jensen shuffles by him, his hair still sleep tousled, and awkwardly side-steps a box in the doorway to their kitchen. “I don't care. I'm staying in bed all freaking day,” he grouches, taking a plastic bottle of orange juice from the fridge. “We can go through it tomorrow,” he adds as he hooks his arm around Jared's. “C'mon human pillow.”

Jared snorts, but lets Jensen drag him back to their bedroom.

Of course, he's not as tired as Jensen who's carrying the extra weight of his baby bump, so he's up two hours later sneaking out from under Jensen's hold and replacing his body with his pillow under Jensen's belly.

He eats some cereal while scanning the living room and decides to at least start to separate what’s-what since he's awake. Three hours later, he's managed to get everything that needs assembling in one pile, the baby's clothes, blankets, towels, and diapers in another, while bottles, bibs, pacifiers and toys make a third pile. Then he makes a special pile for things like the diaper bag Sophia got them and this small bathtub thing filled with baby powder and other stuff.

Hey, he might be a klutz and leave all his shit lying around where it doesn't belong, but he can totally put things in piles. Jensen can tell him later where each item should be or where he wants it. Once that's done, he finds himself drumming his fingers on his thigh, considering what to do next. His eyes land on the cute baby clothes, and he crawls towards the pile.

Jared can't believe these tiny things are supposed to dress his daughter. She's going to be that small and fragile, and Jared really hopes he doesn't drop her or something like that. Jensen probably should be the one moving her around until they are sure she's not going to end up on floor.

He reaches for an adorable pale green onesie with bunnies on it, and Jared's faced with how his gigantic hands engulf the whole outfit making his fears grow tenfold. He checks the size and folds it, and keeps going, making different piles for each age stage.

“Am I still sleeping, or am I actually seeing you organizing the baby's clothes?” Jensen's sleep gruff voice startles him.

“Christ, Jensen. Warn a guy!”

Jensen waddles his ways to the pile. “If you can't hear my gigantic ass when I'm coming in, you're the one with the hearing problem.”

“Your ass is not gigantic.”

Jensen gingerly sits next to him. “I appreciate the sentiment, but it is.” He scans the piles. “So, what are we doing here?”

“Jensen, you don't have to help me. Go and get some more sleep.”

“I need a break from the bed.” Jared goes to protest, which Jensen shushes. “I'm serious. I'll go back when I feel tired again.”

Jared sighs. “If you say so.”

Jared temporarily mollified, Jensen turns back to the mini-mountain of clothing.“Alright, explain.”

Jared tells him about his system, and together they finish folding all the baby's clothes by the time their stomachs protest for some lunch. They eat a quick meal, then they get the clothes they'll be using right after Mara's born into the dresser in her room, while the rest are stored until needed inside a bag in their closet.

By the end of the week, their living room looks less like a warehouse, and the only things that they have left are those that need assembling, which Jared gathered all for himself to proudly put his awesome engineering skills in use for his daughter.

 

 

 

 

 ****

 

“Can I go in yet?” Jensen calls out from the sofa.

“Ackles, I'll tell you when you can come in. If you so much as dare to take a peek, I'll use my paint brush on your face!” Genevieve's voice carries over from the next room, threateningly.

“Hey, watch it with the pregnant guy abuse!” Jared protests from his position on floor where he's assembling the baby's swing.

“Then make sure he doesn't come in here until I tell him!”

Jensen giggles.

“Don't provoke her, Jen.”

Jensen gives him his most innocent expression. “I don't know what you're referring to.”

Jared points at him with the screw driver. “Stay on that sofa.”

Jensen pouts and crosses his arms over his belly. Just then he sees and feels Mara's foot poking at it.

“That, will never, ever, not be fucking creepy,” Chad complains, open bag of Doritos in his hand as he comes out of the kitchen.

“She's just running out of space, and the closer Jensen gets to his due date, the more we can see her,” Danneel explains to him.

“I don't care how you explain it, Miss 'I'm in nursing school and I know my shit'. It doesn't stop it from being freaky.”

“Like Alien,” Sophia adds.

“Exactly!” Chad agrees.

Sophia laughs.

Jensen snorts. “Are you calling Mara an alien?”

“Chad, you're supposed to be helping me with this, not eating my food,” Jared objects.

“You're doing a pretty good job by yourself.”

Sophia gives him a reproachful look.

“What? He is!”

“Okay, I'm done,” Genevieve announces, walking out of Mara's room.

Jensen tries to get up— tries, is the key word here. Somehow, in the minutes he's been sitting down, the sofa has swallowed half of his body, and with his belly so big he has no leverage to get up.

“Oh, for Christ's sake!” Chad hands the Doritos to Sophia and pulls Jensen up before Jared can finish standing to do the same.

“Thanks,” Jensen says sincerely. Chad can be a crazy, loud idiot, but he can also be a nice guy. Sophia probably gets to see that side more than any of them, otherwise Jensen doesn't know how they are even together.

“No problem, Jenny.”

Jensen scowls. He takes it back: Chad is an ass.

“Can I see it now?” Jensen asks Genevieve.

Genevieve grabs his hand, and takes him to Mara's room. She had shown up that morning with Danneel, Chad and Sophia, carrying a bunch of paint cans and her brushes. And now Jensen gets to finally see what's she's been doing all these hours.

As soon he walks inside, his eyes are drawn to the wall opposite where the crib is. The once simple white wall is now completely filled with hand painted cherry blossom flowers with intricate branches, single petals flowing around as butterflies and little birds fly in between. In the corner there is a caricature of a little girl in pigtails with freckles on her nose, sitting by a desk writing happily, with a robot and some loose parts scattered next to her.

“That's you and Jared represented,” Genevieve explains.

Jensen is not about to cry. He's not. No sir.

“Gosh, why are you crying?!” Genevieve exclaims, worried. “I didn't mean to make you cry.”

Jensen shakes his head, and hugs her, probably too tight by her choked gasp.

“I can't fucking help it,” he complains.

“Oh, okay. But you like my gift?”

Jensen breathes in, trying to calm himself before he pulls back and wipes his face. “I love it.” He glances back at the wall. “Jesus, Gen, you didn't need to do this.”

“Hey, I wanted to. My niece gets to have a cool room if I say so.”

Jensen smiles at her calling Mara her niece. The whole gang calls Mara their niece, actually. Because, as he was explained when the whole thing started, they simply consider Mara part of their own family. Jensen knows his daughter is going to have many people looking after her and that makes his heart swell.

“But we're going to move someday and all this work will go to waste.”

“I'll paint her room again when that happens. Gotta put that art degree to use, and what better way than on Mara?”

Jensen hugs her again. “Thank you.”

“Holy crap!”

They separate to look at Jared.

“You did all of this?” he says, awed, walking to the wall.

“Jared Padalecki, don't put your fingers in the paint. It’s still fresh,” she warns sternly, just as Jared was about to put his index on it.

Jared puts both hands up and moves away from the wall. “There, I didn't put my hands on it,” he says, and it's the only warning Genevieve gets before Jared is hugging her and raising her feet from the floor.

She shrieks, “Put me down, you yeti!”

Jared plants a loud kiss on her cheek before putting her down. “You're amazing.”

“Hey, hey, you better not be trying to steal my girlfriend.” Danneel comes out of nowhere and hits him on the arm. “You already have a pretty one; don't hog all the good stuff.”

“Danni!” Jensen protests.

“You're pretty, hon, deal with it,” she dismisses. “Wow, this is really awesome, Gen!”

“I know. I outdid myself.”

“I feel like she just insulted me,” Jensen murmurs, aghast.

Jared pulls him into a hug and kisses his forehead. “She didn't. You're totally pretty.”

Jensen slaps him on the chest, chuckling. “Shut up.”

 

Jensen rubs his lower back for probably the hundredth time; straightening up to ease the pain that has been stabbing him since he woke up this morning. Sitting in a desk chair, as comfortable as it's supposed to be, is most likely not helping him.

To think he did this to himself. At thirty nine weeks he should be at home, resting and counting the days until he goes into labor. His boss told him he could start taking his vacation already, but Jensen wants to use all of his paid-leave time for after Mara is born. Besides, the more money they have before she's here the better.

Right now, though, he's regretting not taking up his boss’s offer. No matter what he does, his back won't stop hurting. He even goes to take a walk around the Language department floor to see if stretching his legs helps, but it only makes it worse.

He's back at his desk when a student comes in.

“I've an appointment with Prof. Danes?”

Jensen pushes the pain aside; if he's at work he'd better do his job. “What's your name?”

“Whinckly, Jason.”

Jensen opens the agenda, and read through the day’s appointments. “Oh yes, I’ve got you here—“ He stops mid-sentence, a choked gasp leaving his lips as he bends over the desk slightly to deal with the stabbing pain in his belly.

“Uh, are you okay?” Whinckly asks.

Jensen takes a deep breath once the pain goes away. He clears his throat. “Yeah, I'm fine. Take a seat and Professor Danes will be with you in a minute.”

Whinckly does as he's told, while Jensen calls the professor's office to let him know his 1pm appointment is here.

When he's alone again, he glances down to his bump. Was that a contraction? He's been having the Braxton Hicks for a while and that definitely wasn't that. All he's felt is a pressure take over his belly once in a while so far, and then some minor cramping yesterday. It never hurt like this.

Shit. He's five days early from his due day if that's the case.

Maybe it isn't that. He's never been pregnant before, how would he know if he's in labor or not.

He's just going to keep an eye open, and— “Ow!” The pain is back, and he does his best to breathe through it.

“Jensen? Are you alright?”

Jensen bites his bottom lip to stop himself from whimpering and simply shakes his head.

The professor who asked— it had to be of course Jensen's favorite one— Mr. Cain rounds the desk and rushes to his side. “Can you tell me what's wrong?”

The pain is easing up again, and Jensen takes a deep breath. “I think I'm in labor.”

“Well, shit, we gotta get you to a hospital, then,” he says, completely calm.

Jensen laughs. This is why he likes him; he's the most down to earth professor in the whole department. Everybody is nice, but Mr. Cain isn't afraid of breaking that barrier between student and professor. He doesn't even like to be called Professor; he likes to joke that he's not that old and has yet to grow a long white beard to be called that.

“I gotta call Jared.” Crap, here comes another one. Didn't he just go through this? He should be counting how far apart they are.

“Hey, Gemma!” Mr. Cain shouts.

“Yes?” his teaching assistant pokes his head out of Mr. Cain's office.

“Do me a favor and call the IT department, ask for Jared Padalecki and tell him Jensen is in labor and that I'm driving him to the hospital.”

“Okie dokie!”

“What? No, you don't have to do that. I can wait for Jared,” Jensen pants.

“If I'm counting right, your contractions are five minutes apart. We gotta go now. Believe me, I already went through this with my two kids, I know the drill.”

“Okay.” Jensen allows Mr. Cain to help him up.

They stop just once as they reached the parking lot, until the contraction goes away again.

“What hospital should I take you to?” Mr. Cain asks, putting his seatbelt on.

“Austin General.”

“Alright. Hang in there.”

The drive seems like forever, even though they are just twenty minutes away from the hospital. Mr. Cain tries to distract Jensen from the pain, but all Jensen is thinking is that Mara is about to be born and Jared is not there with him.

 

Once they get to the hospital, everything is pretty much a pain filled blur. One moment he's in Mr. Cain's SUV, and the next he's already lying on a bed in the birthing wing of the hospital.

A nice nurse comes in, and Mr. Cain is nowhere to be seen.

“He's outside, talking to the nurse receptionist,” she says, sensing Jensen's confusion. “Is he the father of you baby?”

“No!” Jensen grabs tightly to the bed rail as another contraction hits. “Shit,” he grunts. “Sorry,” he gasps out.

“Don't worry, sweetheart, you get to curse all you want until that baby is in your arms.” She winks at him. “I'm Cara, and I'll be assisting Dr. Day with your delivery.”

Jensen's nerves die a little at hearing his doctor's name. “Is she here?”

“She's in the building. We've paged her and she should be here any minute.”

Good. At least Felicia is going to be delivering Mara. He wouldn't trust or feel comfortable if he had the bad luck of having some other doctor doing the delivery. Felicia's been with him and Jared since after they came back from Christmas vacation. She was recommended by Sherri's doctor, and as soon they met Jensen liked her a lot. Her easy-going and witty personality made his appointments less nerve racking— he worries too much, remember?— and she feels like family by now. “Crap, my mom was supposed to come up tomorrow. She's going to miss it.”

“Has your family been called already?” Cara asks as she checks his vital signs.

“My boyfriend. I don't know if he called anyone else.” Jensen tenses. “Ngnh.”

“Breathe through it, Jensen. It won't take it away but it will help you cope with it,” she coaches. “Come on, do it with me. Deep inhale, now exhale. Good job. You're doing great.”

“I knew you would be one of those patients that can’t stay on schedule,” Dr. Felicia Day jokes as she enters the room.

“Not my doing,” Jensen grumps.

“I know,” she smiles. “How's it going?”

“His contractions are five minutes apart. His vital signs and the baby's are good, though he's a bit dehydrated. Should I prepare a bag and I.V?”

“No!” both Jensen and Felicia say, scaring Cara.

“I don't like needles,” Jensen explains.

“'Don’t like' is an understatement,” Felicia adds. “He had a panic attack when I took a syringe out of one of the drawers in the exam room and proposed giving him some vitamin shots to boost up his iron levels.”

“It wasn't that bad,” Jensen protests, blushing.

“I had him breathing into a bag,” Felicia says to prove it was.

“So, I guess there's not going to be a discussion about the epidural, huh?” Cara says, amused.

“Over my dead body,” Jensen says, seriously.

“Just get me some ice chips; we'll keep giving him some every half hour until his hydration levels go back to normal, and then every hour,” Felicia orders.

“Alright, Doctor.” Cara writes it down on Jensen's chart.

“Where’s that handsome boyfriend of yours?” Felicia asks as she puts on a pair of gloves.

“On his way, I hope.” Jensen grunts, another contraction cutting through the conversation.

“Hold my hand.” Felicia takes his from the rail, and lets him squeeze it as she keeps her eyes on one of the monitors until the contraction is over. “I'm going to check how dilated you are, okay?”

Jensen nods. She moves to the end of the bed and checks in.

“Well, you're six centimeters,” Felicia reports, taking her gloves off. “You are either one of those _very_ lucky first timers who have a quick labor, or you have been in labor for a while without the joy of contraction pains.” She writes down a note on his chart. “Of course that doesn't mean this is going to be actually quick.”

Jensen glowers at her.

“Hold on for the ride, cowboy, you're one centimeter away from the really fun part,” Felicia chuckles.

“You think my pain is funny,” Jensen gasps, faking bafflement. “What kind of doctor are you?”

“The best kind.” Felicia winks at him and Jensen snort-chuckles.

“I'll be back to check on you later. If you need anything, tell Cara, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, go away you slacker,” Jensen jokes.

 

Jensen is in the middle of another painful contraction when Jared enters his room all frazzled.

“Jen, you okay?”

Jensen waits until he's not in pain to answer. “Define ‘okay’?”

Jared sits on the edge of the bed and takes Jensen's hand in his. “What happened? Your due date is in five days.”

“Nothing happened. Mara just wants out now.”

Jared visible relaxes at that answer. Jensen thinks about being the one getting the call Jared just received, and he understands how much Jared had to be freaking out trying to get to the hospital.

Jensen frowns. “Did you drive to get here?”

“No. I crashed into Chris while trying to get to the parking lot. He drove me here. I don't think I was in good shape to drive.”

“I'm sorry, babe. I wanted to wait for you but Mr. Cain insisted on take me here right away.”

“I'm glad he did.” Jared glances at the monitors, then down to Jensen's belly and the fetal monitor. “So, what's the verdict?”

“Six in already.”

“Great, just four more. Does it hurt a lot?”

“Like a motherfucker. But Felicia said that it's going to get worse.”

Jared's thumb rubs over his knuckles. “I called Mom on my way here. She's going to tell your parents and head here.”

“They might not make it.”

“That's fine. They'll get to see Mara, anyways.”

“Is Chris outside?”

“Yeah, he's phoning the gang to let them know.”

Jensen nods. He lowers his eyes to where their hands are joined; relieved that Jared is here with him, because between the pain and all the joking, Jensen is scared. What if Mara gets stuck and he can't push her out? What if her umbilical cord is around her neck? What if—?

Jared shakes his hand to bring him back to reality. “Hey, are you worrying yourself to death in there?”

Jensen swallows, heaving a breath. “Remind me again?”

Jared scoots closer and combs his fingers through Jensen's short, already sweat-dampened hair, as he looks into his eyes. “It's going to be alright.”

Jensen lifts their clasped hands to rest on his fast beating heart, and clings to Jared. “If something bad happens...”

“The only thing that's going to happen is that you're going to push Mara out, curse at me, and then we'll have our Jellybean here with us.”

Jared says it with such conviction that Jensen believes him. “I'm not going to curse at you.”

Jared snorts. “We'll see.”

 

Felicia was not joking. It takes two hours before his water breaks and he reaches the seven centimeters mark— then the real pain begins as the contractions come faster and last longer. It feels like he's being torn apart on the inside, and no matter what he does, the pain is almost unbearable. Being on his side seems to be the only position where he can deal with the contractions better, and Jared, who somehow — though they have never done this before — knows when to encourage him and when to back off. He never stops holding Jensen's hand, even when Jensen knows his fingers must be asleep or in pain by now given how hard he's squeezing.

Somewhere between more contractions and cursing, Jensen's mom is suddenly in the room. And, in his haze, Jensen's glad the family made it before Mara is here, until he gets another contraction and wishes all of this could be over already.

It takes some time, like Felicia warned him, and as the contractions get increasingly worse, Jensen tries to focus on the end result. He's doing this for Mara.

When it’s finally time to push, Jensen is dead tired. But the fact that now he gets to be proactive, that the contractions are going to serve to help him bring Mara into this world, gives him a rush of energy. So, when Felicia gives him the go to push, Jensen does with all he has. And, shit, it hurts. But there is no going back, the only way this is going to end is by Mara being born. He screams and shouts, but he keeps pushing until a baby girl is put on his belly and starts to wail when the nurse rubs her dry.

Jensen's hands are shaking as he holds her tiny body against his chest. Mara opens her eyes and looks at him, and he smiles. Jared touches her pink cheek with the pad of his finger, lovingly, and a wet chuckle leaves his mouth when she grabs his finger with her little fist. Jensen then glances up to him, and sees there are tears on Jared's face. He moves his hand from over Mara's body, and holds his face, softly wiping off some of his tears, and Jared turns to kiss his palm. Jensen feels overwhelmed with how much he loves Jared, and how much he loves Mara; with the weight of knowing that they are now responsible for shaping, protecting, and caring for their daughter. How many things they're going to have to learn together and go through as Mara grows up.

“Thank you,” Jared whispers, kissing him on his sweaty forehead. “You and Mara are the two things that make my life complete.”

“Right back at you.” Jensen leans up to kiss him on the lips. And kisses him again, and again, until Mara's making a soft cry, interrupting the moment.

“Oh, it’s going to be like that, huh?” Jared jokes looking at her.

Jensen laughs at her answering with another soft cry.

But Jensen is ready to take on whatever their future may be. Because having Mara here, in his arms, with Jared at his side, makes everything they went through from the day Jensen took the pregnancy test, worth it. All of it.

 

 

Mara's the cutest baby ever. Alright, he's totally biased. What parent doesn't think that about their kid, right? Still, she's pretty fucking cute.

Their first week after they bring her home, it takes a few false steps to settle back in the apartment with a newborn. While getting up in the middle of the night when she cries is not that fun, they tag team it— when she cries because of a dirty diaper, Jared gets up and when she cries because she's hungry, then Jensen does. They both learn pretty fast what each of her cries means. It has been working pretty good so far, and they lose less sleep.

At first Jared was afraid of holding Mara and dropping her, so he avoided being the one carrying her around the apartment. Until Jensen realized what he was doing, and when Jared wasn't expecting it, put her in his arms before he could blink so he had no choice but to hold her. Jensen had patted him on the back with a smile as he walked away from him. After that, and seeing as he didn't drop her, he stopped worrying about it, and now all he wants to do is have her in his arms all the time.

Of course, Mr. Worrywart is a natural at taking care of Mara. Jared's always known Jensen would be awesome at being a dad; his boyfriend just needs to believe in himself a little more.

The second week, as they go back to school, it's overwhelmingly chaotic. While they made sure their classes weren't on the same days when the semester started— foreseeing Mara's due date as being at the beginning of May— and so one could stay with Mara at home all the time, they are also juggling with finishing any assignments they missed from the previous week of class and with getting ready for the end of the semester crazy amount of essays and finals. This also means that they have to introduce Mara to the bottle early in order for Jared to feed her Jensen’s milk when Jensen’s in class. That in itself is quite the battle because all she wants is Jensen's nipples for a while, until they do convince her that the bottle is not that bad. Adding to all that his work hours, and that Jensen is still recovering from the birthing, it's a miracle they survive that week at all.

They do, though, and by the third week it feels like they have more control on managing their days. It's a bit easier with school because they have just a few days before summer vacation starts, and Jared has moved his work schedule around to give him a bit more leverage. Jensen is on his paid leave for eight weeks, because he worked up to the end of his pregnancy, and it helps a lot because then Jared can be at work while Jensen stays with Mara and they don't have to worry about finding a babysitter yet.

It's very possible that when they go back to school to finish their last semester, they will have a better grip on things, and that their last year won't be as crazy as it has been in the last three weeks.

Jared truly hopes that's the case.

 

“Alright, Jellybean. Would you please let me get this onesie off?” Jared chuckles, trying to get Mara's feet out of the clothes, but his daughter keeps kicking her legs as she sucks on her fist. She coos and looks at him. She's grown so much in just one month, Jared feels like he will blink one day a she'll be already heading to college. He wants her to stay a baby forever.

Jared finally gets hold of her legs, and takes the onesie off. He makes quick work of changing her diaper and dressing her in a purple t-shirt with a teddy bear print, a matching pair of pants and shoes, and a cute brown hoodie with bear ears. “There you go. That wasn't too bad, right?” Jared picks her up from the changing table and walks toward the living room where Jensen is finishing getting ready. “We're all set.”

Jensen slips on his sneakers, and smiles at them both. “I'm ready too.” He stands up. “She looks pretty cute.”

“Hey, I'm a professional at this.”

“You made her too cute, though. The girls might try to steal her.”

“They'll have to bring me down first.”

Jensen snorts. “Okay, let's head out. We're going to be late.”

“We're always late. I doubt they're not used to it at this point.”

Jensen passes the diaper bag strap over his shoulder and grabs the car seat with the other. “True.”

 

The gang is waiting in their normal booth when they arrive. They move around until Jensen and Jared are sitting in the middle with Mara between them.

“Oh my god, I swear she gets cuter each day,” Sophia squeals.

“Woman, keep it down,” Chris complains, covering his ears.

Sophia flips him the bird.

“Sophia, don't show Mara how to be rude yet. They've a few years before they have to deal with that,” Steve says, amused.

“With Jensen as her dad, I doubt that will take long,” Chad argues.

Now Jensen flips him the bird.

“See?” Chad sniggers.

“Go fu—”

Jared covers Jensen's mouth before he finishes. “Language, dude.”

“Sorry,”

“Alright children, let's behave like adults. We've an impressionable youngster at the table,” Genevieve intervenes.

“She's right. Let's move to the breakfast part of the morning,” Danneel adds.

They're soon eating their orders and making conversation about their summer plans. He and Jensen will take a week to go up to Richardson in July and spend a little time with the grandparents. They all have been living vicariously through emailed pictures of Mara, and it will be great for them to see her in person, and she to get to know them better.

Mara whimpers in her seat, making everybody in the table stare at her. She spits her pacifier and starts to get a bit fussy, so Jensen takes her out to hold her.

“What's wrong, pumpkin? You wanna be part of the conversation?” Chris coos.

Jared watches Danneel take her cellphone and take a video of Chris talking to the baby.

“I now have proof that you aren't as tough as you want us to believe,” Danneel says triumphantly.

Chris' flabbergasted expression makes everybody laugh.

“I'll get a hold of that video and delete it. Watch yourself, Harris,” Chris promises.

“You can try.”

Of course they start to argue and Steve is in the middle trying to calm them down.

”Can I hold her?” Sophia asks, ignoring the ruckus on the other side of the booth.

“Yeah,” Jensen transfers Mara into Sophia's arms.

“It's not fair that you two made such a cute baby,” Sophia pouts. “If you ever need a babysitter, call me.”

Jared's eyes narrow. “I don't know if I can trust you to not kidnap her.”

“I would never!”

“I'm just saying, I’ve got my eyes on you, Sophie.”

“You would never be able to prove anything.”

“You know what, give her back.” Jared reaches over Jensen. But Sophia moves away from him.

“You get to hold her all the time, this is _my_ time.”

Jensen laughs. “Jared, leave her alone.”

Mara coos, blowing bubbles to Sophia. “See, she likes me.”

“Aw, that's so adorable.” Danneel says forgetting her fight with Chris. And soon everybody is just being amused by whatever Mara does.

It amazes Jared how some things have stayed the same after all the growing up and changes him and Jensen have dealt with. They're still the same group of friends that meet on Sunday's for breakfast and bicker like brothers and sisters. It's really comforting to know that while some things might change in the future, others will forever stay the same.

 

Later that day, they spend the afternoon dozing off in their bed, with Mara wedged between them. But Jared wakes up before Jensen, and notices Mara is awake too. He puts his hand over her warm belly, calming her with soft circles over it before she starts to whimper and wakes up Jensen. Jared lets her play with his fingers when she grabs them, and she starts to coo softly. “Atta girl.” Jared whispers. He glances up to see Jensen sleeping peacefully, and he thinks right then and there, that this is it. He's so damn happy he could explode, and every day he wakes up next to Jensen and then picks up his daughter out of her crib, it's enough to brighten his day. That if he comes from work tired, finding Jensen and Mara lying on the sofa together makes him forget any issues he had through his shift. That things could have gone wrong in so many ways, and they still would end up here, because this love they have is more powerful than anything that tries to get in the way.

There's just one more thing he would like to have…

“Why are you staring at me?” Jensen grunts, his eyes still closed.

“Because I can't get over how pretty you are. The prettiest of them all,” Jared teases.

Jensen mouths 'fucker', but he's smiling.

“Hey, Jen?”

“Yes?”

“Since we skipped ahead of the plan, I think we should just go ahead and get married this summer.”

Jensen eyes go wide open. “What?”

“I don't see a reason to wait any longer.”

“Jared, we just got our sh- things together, and you want to throw in the craziness of a wedding, too?”

“It will be our family, and the gang, how crazy can that be?”

Jensen gives him a pointed look.

“Alright, I'll concede it's probably going to get wild.”

“Probably?” Jensen whispers incredulously.

“But I still want to get married to you.”

“And it has to be this summer?” Jensen deadpans.

“Yup.”

He sees that Jensen is going to protest again, after all, what Jared is asking is a bit crazy, but he can't wait to call Jensen his husband, it's the cherry on the top of his life's ice cream. So he gives him a sad look, knowing Jensen can’t resist those.

“Stop that,”

Jared turns the sad puppy eyes full on. When Jensen sighs, Jared knows he’s won.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

Jared would jump on the bed like a kid, if his kid wasn't dozing off again between them. He plants a loud kiss on Jensen's mouth instead. “Yes!”

“You suck.”

“I would, but I don't think that's appropriate with Mara in our bed.”

Jensen slaps him on the chest playfully. “You know very well I wasn't referring to that.”

“Don't care, grumpy grandpa. I got what I wanted.”

Jensen chuckles. “Yeah, you did.”

He doesn't protest when Jared drags him in for a long, drawn out kiss.

“God, I hope she doesn't get your puppy eyes or we're screwed.” Jensen says terrified, when they come apart.

Jared can barely hold his laugh.

“She's going to use them on you too, you know?”

Jared stops laughing right away. “Oh.”

Now it’s Jensen who has to stop from laughing.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading ♥


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